My Story

Tattoos are not a common fixture in my family — not completely taboo either — but my mom is too frugal to consider them reasonable and my dad, well he just doesn’t like to leave the farm so it’s unlikely he’ll wander across a tattoo parlor any time soon. Regardless of this fact, my dad and I had a running joke for nearly a decade about getting a matching tattoo of our family’s cattle brand. I’ve been drawing it for years, doodling and daydreaming about one day conquering my adolescent fear of needles (and commitment).

Then, I woke up on my 27th birthday and thought “This is the day!” On the drive there, I contemplated the meaning of this seemingly monumental moment in my adult life and how this outward expression could honor my past and where I came from. I wouldn’t say I conquered any fears that day, but I left less than an hour later with my little trophy — and a challenge for my dad. “Tag! You’re it!” I messaged him, with an image of my new “ink.” He laughed, “Oh, $%*#…,” apparently not quite ready to keep his end of the bargain.

About a week later I was chatting with my mom and out of the blue, she very nonchalantly says, “Oh, by the way, you know you drew the cattle brand backwards, right?… For your tattoo?” (She clarified.) Like I didn’t know exactly what she was referring to. What?!? Excuse me, no… I did not realize that I mistakenly drew the image I had just gotten permanently scribbled on my person “backwards.” Somehow over the years my mind had altered this little symbol into a slightly different version. 

Fast forward about a month. I’m going through my mail and I notice a large envelope from my dad, kind of strange. I opened it to find a certificate from the state of Kansas declaring that I in fact now own a registered cattle brand — which just so happens to look exactly like my tattoo. 

How I’m expanding what’s possible with money

My role at Abacus lets me create and share educational content that makes financial literacy accessible to more and more people.

Outside of work, my passions include

Travel, the great outdoors, travel combined with the great outdoors, music no one has heard of, and films no one has seen. I also really enjoy mentoring youth and seek opportunities to help young adults flourish and grow.